The Last Sunset [Blu-ray]

Director: Robert Aldrich Robert Aldrich

Overview

Scripted by Dalton Trumbo and directed by Robert Aldrich, this off-beat, almost eclectic film could be hailed as a thinking person's western. It is the dark cat-and-mouse tale of a sherrif's hunt for a philosophy-spouting criminal in the midst of a great cattle drive. The outlaw killed the sherrif's brother-in-law. During his flight, the outlaw pauses long enough to drop by the ranch where his former lover lives with her husband and 16-year-old daughter. While there, the rancher hires him to lead a cattle drive to Texas. The sheriff soon catches up, but he decides to help the killer with the drive before bringing him in. Along the way, the two men gain a grudging respect for one another. Also the sheriff begins to fall in love with the rancher's wife, while the crook finds himself drawn to her lovely daughter. The rancher ends up killed during the trip and this allows the romances to bloom until the widow tells the outlaw an awful secret about the young woman he loves. Grecian-style tragedy ensues.

Product Details

Release Date:	10/12/2021
UPC:	0738329253066
Original Release:	1961
Rating:	NR
Source:	Kl Studio Classics
Language:	English
Time:	1:52:00
Sales rank:	23,409

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Rock Hudson	Dana Stribling
Kirk Douglas	Brendan O'Malley
Dorothy Malone	Belle Breckenridge
Joseph Cotten	John Breckenridge
Carol Lynley	Missy Breckenridge
Neville Brand	Frank Hobbs
Regis Toomey	Milton Wing
Rad Fulton	Julesburg Kid
Adam Williams	Calverton
Jack Elam	Ed Hobbs
John Shay	Bowman
Margarito De Luna	Jose
Chichuahua	Chihuahua
Jose Frowe	Man at Cockfight,Man at Cock Fight
Luis Vergara	Men at Cock Fight
José Torvay	Rosario
Ernest Gold	Composer
James Westmoreland	Julesburg Kid
Margarito Luna	Jose
Jorge Treviño	Mexican trader
Manuel Vergara 'Manver'	Man at Cock Fight
José Chávez	Man at Cock Fight
Peter Helm	Man at Saloon

Technical Credits

Dalton Trumbo

Howard Rigsby

Robert Aldrich	Director
Dalton Trumbo	Screenwriter
Eugene Frenke	Producer
Edward Lewis	Producer
Howard Rigsby	Screenwriter
Donald Cunliffe	Sound Effects
Waldon O. Watson	Sound Effects

Editorial Reviews

The Last Sunset is a frustrating film, but one that many will embrace despite its flaws. Although definitely a Western, Sunset is also a soap opera and a character study, not to mention at attempt at distilling Greek tragedy in a different setting. In other words, it's ambitious; unfortunately, its reach far exceeds its grasp. Credit screenwriter Dalton Trumbo and director Robert Aldrich with trying something different, but also blame them for the film's many shortcomings. Trumbo never seems to be able to get a solid handle on what he's trying to do. The story works in fits and starts and gets muddled at many points; at times it seems as if the finished screenplay is filled with the remnants of ideas that didn't work out, but the shells of which were kept in anyway. The "big surprise" revelation, which is clearly planned as being in the classic tragic style but which comes across as merely soap opera, is also telegraphed ahead well in advance and loses considerable impact therefore. For his part, Aldrich can't bring cohesiveness to Sunset. His work is uneven, reflecting the problems of the script rather than disguising them. When Aldrich hits, the film has some flashes of real life and excitement and one can see what kind of film it could have been; but there are too many misses between the hits. The cast does well, especially Dorothy Malone; it's a shame that their fine performances can't patch up the holes in Sunset.